Sunny4567

The one thing my lawyer told me is that if you enter the US on a Visitor Visa and marry a US citizen

it is considered fraud and it could complicate your case and/or even get you in trouble.

I see my advice or what I was advised is different from

Trailmixes (who by the way I think is great and has helped me!) You must declare that you are getting married when you enter,

and I do not know how much that may complicate things. That is why people go through all the paperwork that you read about this site to get permission to go to the US to marry and join their fiance's.

Just my two cents.

Good luck!

Hey, it took almost 6 weeks in Canada, so 10 weeks fro Syria doesn't seem that far fetched.

Best to get these things done before filing paperwork.

Just a quick note to say that we were originally turned down in Montreal for reasons of Domicile on March 17th.

I came home an immediately send in additional proof of Domicile to Montreal on March 19th. My husband received his Visa

last Thursday, April 22nd. I also had a lawyer throughout this process. The guy who interviewed me in Montreal

(I think you all know who he is) told me that I had "paid for bad advice from my lawyer." Well she was outraged

that we were turned down in Montreal due to Domicile and she went before Congress and Congressional Aides at

the end of March to speak about our case and is also going to file a formal complaint with the State Department.

Our case was nothing compared to what I have read here on VJ that many people have gone through.

Maybe if enough people speak out the CO officials in Montreal will be re trained on how to fairly judge Domicile.

There is so much gray area in interpreting the law as there is in all Immigration Law.

I personally think if you are a US born citizen and they judge your marriage to be real and honest and you meet the

AOS financial requirements you should not be expected to be separated from your spouse to prove "ties" to the US.

Any US born citizen of the US will always have "ties" to their home country.

I am really, really sorry that your wife went through that nightmare.

Something else must have been up with her? Did you try talking to a lawyer?

I have just in the last 19 months gone through getting Canadian Permanent Residency for myself

and the Visa for my Canadian husband to move back to the US with me.

I can say without a doubt the Canadian system was a million times easier and much more pleasant.

I had to hire a lawyer for the US Visa, but I was able to navigate the Canadian PR process alone.

The website is so user friendly for Canadian Immigration but try to navigate the US site!

My Canadian interview was no more than a formality in Oshawa with a nice older woman asking me

three questions and then saying "Welcome to Canada." I also entered Canada as a "visitor" and stayed

to marry my husband and live here with one simple extension to my visitor visa. Do this in the US and it is

considered FRAUD. You can not enter as a visitor in the US and marry a US citizen with out getting in trouble.

Canada didn't even question my original entry. For the US interview we had to go through

a harrowing process in Montreal where we were refused the Visa because I was not "domiciled" in the US.

I thought they would want me to actually be with my husband. I was very mistaken.

The US process was much, much more expensive and stressful by 100!

So anyway, that is just my experience.

Trust me when I tell you that the Canadian process is just as screwed up. My wife tried to get her Permanent Residency reinstated and they jerked her around for 6 months (this particular process was only supposed to take 30 days) only to deny her in the end after making her go to to 3 separate interviews where all they did was go over her answers to their questions and have her sign a paper that the answers were correct. A week later, they gave her orders to leave the country and told her if she didn't within 30 days they would issue a warrant for her arrest. She was treated like a common criminal. Then they turned around and told her if she wanted to come back, to just go to the States for one day and then turn around and come back!! HELLO! Talk about contradicting yourself.

When she was at Canada immigration getting a Record of Departure, the Border Patrol kept her there for 45 minutes trying to figure out why Canada Immigration had refused her reinstatement. She finally told them she did not want to contest it, she just wanted to leave.

The American process may seem "retarded", but it has the checks and balances for a reason and I don't appreciate you insulting the U.S.

Doesn't matter if it's the U.S. or Canada, it's no walk in the park.

Hi Lenie-

Well, I can see your frustration. Based on everything you have sent you should be approved.

The only thing I can think of is your income. 80% of my assets which total to quite a bit are in liquid cash,

not in real estate and they will want to see that you have enough income of your own in the US to support your

husband once he lands in the US. If you think you have that all squared away the only other thing I can think of

is to turn in your PR card. I found a form on line at the Canadian immigration website that you can fill in to forfeit your card. I did not have to do this, but I also didn't disclose permanent residency.

When did your package arrive in Montreal? As I said my interview was March 17th and I sent in my additional documentation

March 19th. That might be why I got the quick turn around. But really it feels totally unfair that you did NOT receive

Domicile. How did he even know that you came back and forth to Canada which such ties to the US?

(we also learned the hard way that I should have sent my husband to the interview alone!)

We actually own a home here in Canada so really your case should be approved. Very, very bizarre.

I actually feel guilty that we got approved.

I don't know if some people just fall through the cracks or have bad luck!

Hi Sunny,

I am back in the U.S. going to school, but not working. We do have ample finances and own two houses in the U.S., so me not working shouldn't be an issue in our case. For domicile, we sent my mortgage statement(for the house I own alone), utility bills, credit card statements/bank statements showing activity in the U.S., my driver's license, insurance, voter registration, proof of school enrollment, and a few other things.

In my case, I never really moved to Canada full-time, never had a driver's license there, never owned a house there, or anything like that and I never gave up my ties to the U.S. at any point in time. The CO didn't like that I was spending half my time in Canada (and had a PR card) so I could see my husband even though I had only been doing that for a year. Anyway, this whole process is so depressing and it seems like everyone, even those who submitted stuff a couple weeks after us, is getting approved. It almost makes me want to abandon the whole thing and move somewhere else in the world as I am starting to dislike my own country and the ridiculous bureaucracy!

Oh one more thing, I also sent in the realtor's contract that shows our house in Canada is for sale.

(Cutting those Canadian ties)

Lenie, I don't know that much about your case but you would have to have employment in the US

unless you had substantial finances. Are you back in the US? Living and working?

Hi Lenie-

No. Absolutely NO congressman or senator involved.

In fact I didn't even get advice from my lawyer before sending out additional domicile evidence and

I hadn't yet found the VJ site. I just used some of the info he gave us at the interview such

as my apartment lease and then added a bunch of stuff I thought would be helpful like my car registration,

insurance and property tax payments. I also gave them a recent Dr. appt bill, my bank statements which

showed lots of recent US activity, my driver's license etc.

In fact after reading all about Domicile on the VJ site I was certain that we would be turned down again as

I am still in Canada and didn't send in utility bills etc.

And I am also very shocked that we got our package back so quickly. He said at the interview it would

be 4-6 weeks wait, but I didn't believe that one bit. Well, it was 4 weeks to the day almost that

they would have gotten my package that we received the Visa back. I did come home from the interview

and almost immediately send in additional domicile info.

I told my husband I feel guilty getting approved in such a timely manner after reading all the hassle

people go through on this site. I didn't have to have proof of employment as I had enough financial assets

to qualify and I don't know if that helped.

It all just seemed so random.

You sent in additional domicile documentation 5 weeks ago and are still waiting.

What did you send in?

Sunny

Conrats, Sunny! Did you use a congressman or senator to help you? It's been 5 weeks for us and nothing!

VISA in hand!

I will write more later but just to let anyone who would find the information useful we

received my husbands US Visa today after being turned down at our interview in Montreal on March 17th

due to reasons of domicile. (I have been living in Canada with him for the last 18 months). I immediately

came back to our home in Ontario and sent in several documents to prove that I had reestablished domicile in the US.

It has been almost 4 weeks to the day that those documents would have been received by Montreal and we got the Visa

packet in the mail today.

If anyone is interested I can publish a list of exactly what documents I sent in to reestablish domicile.

It is a shame they don't tell you exactly what item you sent in that lead to this approval...but I am SO relieved!

Definitely did a happy dance and even cried at the post office.

PS I even had a lawyer who failed to advise me properly about the issue of Domicile. What a hard lesson.

Marisp-would you mind just listing what you sent in to prove establishing domicile?

I am in the same situation. Got refused at interview, came right home and put more evidence in the mail.

Would be super helpful to know what additional documentation you sent in.

Many thanks! And Congratulations!

Sunny

Went to the mailbox this morning, and found my Xpresspost stuffed in there good. Tried to get it out and it ripped. What fell out? My Visa! Yay!!!

Surprising that I got no email notification, and didn't even have to sign for anything...but overall just relieved that it finally came, and didn't even need to call a congressman! To recap, my interview was in the first week of January where I was denied, saying I needed more proof of establishing domicile, and after gathering more evidence, sending it to MTL on Feb 17, almost 8 weeks later I got my packet. Lots to think about and plan this weekend...can't believe its finally here and official!

Lenie-

I have been following your thread.

We had a very similar situation in Montreal with I am sure the same interviewer.

He also made strange comments about my financial situation.

Would you mind sharing what documents you just resubmitted to prove domicile.

Is this your first go around of mailing in additional documents?

Many thanks! And best of luck!

Sunny

Hmmmm...so Montreal hasn't gotten any better?!? How depressing! After looking at this forum, I decided that I am going to contact my congressperson to look into the case after the four week mark. When I went to my representative's website, it had a separate immigration topic under constituency services for help with immigration matters. In fact, she has a specific person who is an immigration expert in the office, which surprised me. It at least gives me some hope that they have experience with this and may be able to push it along. I just submitted my proof of domicile this past Friday, so we'll see.

Trailmix-

I couldn't sleep so I was up reading Lenie7 thread again.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but did you ever hear what happened to her in the end?

Thanks!

Sunny!

We can't debate because we are on the same side <img src="http://www.visajourney.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laughing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="laughing.gif" />

I hope that my postings don't sound too....umm - just the facts? I really do care and I really am sorry you were denied and I do think he could have taken a looser look at the whole domicile thing and just have said - well she doesn't fit in that slot - but hey - I can sure use this evidence to show proof of reestablishing.

But, I will leave this alone - I do wish you tons of good luck and please let us know how it all turns out <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Wouldn't they give you notice that you were in AP if it was so?

I am so sorry for your stress. It really is just such a nightmare!

My heart goes out to you. We are waiting around too in limbo after I failed to

prove domicile....

I will take this one Coralie, if you don't mind!

AP stands for Administrative Processing!

The beneficiary has to undergo AP if the folks at the consulate feel that the paperwork is inaccurate/faulty. AP can be due to a lot of reasons.

KnR aka slider100

Hello-

I would say that it is definitely fine for your wife to not be there.

In fact it is probably better. My husband who is the Canadian citizen and I had our interview

in Montreal on March 17th and we failed to get the Visa because I was present.(I have been living here in Canada for the last 18 months with my husband).

We failed because we could not prove I was domiciled in the US. If I had been at our apartment in Boston and sent evidence along with my husband to his interview we would have been fine. But now we are delayed for what could be months because I did not know about Domicile. (I hired a lawyer to prepare all my paperwork and she failed to prepare me for this issue thinking my US bank accounts would be enough to prove domicile and they were not)

They want your wife to have Domicile in the US.. Since she is living in the US already this is not an issue for you.

Going to the interview on your own is fine. I would just bring current up to date proof of her employment,

and home info ie lease or a mortgage. Also up to date financial info for her would be helpful too. That is

her bank account info, tax returns for the last three years etc. Any documentation you have about her living in the US. Her utility bills, voters registration, are all good.

Her being in the US is a huge advantage.

Best of luck!

Hi,

I posted this in the main forum earlier but realized it's probably better off in the Canadian forums since I'm heading to the Montreal consulate for my visa interview.

I'm wondering how necessary it is for my wife (us citizen) to be at the CR1/I130 visa interview? We didn't realize it was an option for her to go until very recently and looking at the flight prices now, they are very high (~$1500 USD). My question to everyone is, do you feel the expense is necessary or can I do this one on my own?

I feel my case is pretty straightforward (e.g. no kids, I've only ever lived in Canada, no criminal records, and we've seen each other every 3 weeks for the last two years (with evidence - flight, phone, hotel records, etc)).

What is everyone's thoughts?

Thanks a lot!

I am not an expert, but I don't think the different addresses are a problem. You are moving to a new place.

The important thing is that you have an actual street address. Find your voter registration card. If you are moving

to California it would be worth a trip to go there and get all of this taken care of. As I have said before you need

to take serious concrete steps to bring all the proof of concrete US ties. The most important things will be the job

and the housing but anything else such as driver's license and voter's registration are very good.

I don't know about the joint sponsor issue. You need to have enough income to support your husband.

Those guidelines are met when you are doing the AOS. If you have a good job lined up in CA I would think

you wouldn't need a joint sponsor.

You can do a search on this site for Joint Sponsor and get more info.

What is a joint sponsor?

They sure don't make this easy on us. Wow!

I currently have an American address (my aunt's house) that I have used to file my taxes while I have been in Canada. This address is a Maryland address. However, my husband and I plan on moving to California, so our employment and lease will show California address'. Do you think that this might rise concern? I'm sure I could also find my registered voter card from Maryland somewhere. I am not registered in California. Also, when I switched over my car to be registered in Nova Scotia, they made me give up my Maryland drivers license so now I don't have that either.

Thanks for all the help.

As far as I know you only take these documents to the interview.

My lawyer did all the other steps for us, so as far as I can tell the next thing you will receive

is the interview date. We had two months notice for our interview date, however it was all done over

email as if you use a lawyer they have a new program where they are doing things by email now.

So with mail notification, you should get have at least 6 weeks between notification and interview.

It is scary to quit your Canadian job before you know if you will get the Visa, but

we had all ducks in a row but Domicile. I can't encourage you enough to just get as much set up at home

as possible. And bring all evidence of this to the interview. Especially job offer letter and lease.

I would also seriously recommend US drivers license copy, voter registration, proof of a move etc.

These are things he asked me for that I did not have with me.

Also a PO Box is no good. I had one as my US mailing address since I have been living in Canada (for tax documents etc)

The interviewer did not like that. You need proof of a street address. Get utilites in your name as well. It wouldn't hurt

to bring that as well.

Best of luck!

Wow. That was wonderfully helpful.

My other question is....should I be sending any of this information to the Montreal office now or should I just be collecting them for when we are assigned an interview? It would be easier to collect the proof of re-establishing domicile if I had an interview date so that I had a ballpark date to tell my Canadian employer I am leaving and US employer I will be starting, etc.

In case I didnt mention it, the last step we did was to send D-230 form and the checklist stating we had certain documents.

Hello there-

My husband is also a Canadian citizen and we had our interview in Montreal on March 17th and failed due to

lack of adequate proof of domicile. I have a few things I can tell you that may be of help.

Firstly, they will not be concerned with a job offer for your husband.

My husband had one, they did not want to know about it. I was told that I was the concern

and not him. That is because I am the US Citizen and I am the one that is supposed to be able

to support my husband. They will be concerned about you for purposes of Domicile, not your husband.

When they ask where you live or where is home you should say the US. Or that you are actively in the process of

moving there.

I actually had adequate finances and they weren't wanting a proof of job

from me, but they did want proof of my domicile. Meaning the US was my primary residence.

I have been living in Canada with my Canadian husband for the last year and a half so this tripped me up!

The interviewer told me..."Look at it this way. Think of Canada and the US as two chairs.

You need to prove that you are more in the US chair than the Canada chair!"

(not a brilliant analogy, but I got his point!)

If you are not independently wealthy you will need that you can prove support of your husband.

Sadly, if you don't have a lot of money saved (there are guidelines for the AOS) you will need to

actively seek a job in the US and it would be very smart to move there ahead of your husband and start working.

Paystubs and proof of US employment unless you have a large stash of $ are vital. If you have children

and don't work then you should enroll your children in school or summer programs or whatever.

Bank accounts don't matter.

I had no less than 4 accounts and the interviewer said that was NOT proof of Domicile.

He said "you could live in Kabul and have US bank accounts.."

He wanted a lease, US driver's license,registration, insurance, voters registration, movers receipts etc.

I actually had all of these things, although not with me! (So stupid)

There is a lot of info about proving Domicile while not living in the US on this site....

While as US Citizens we should not have to prove our ties to our home country when we are with our spouse in their country.

But, the reality is that the Consulate wants you to be actively living in the US.

But I think in most cases you just really have to bite the bullet and go for the job and housing.

They also will insist on something more formal for your US living arrangement such as a Legal Lease.

You can find one online and have your sister sign it. Better to rent an apartment though and have a real lease.

They usually want to see tax returns from the last 3 years.

If you live in Canada and haven't filed tax returns in the US recently than that

may also a problem. If you have one from 2009 filed in the US, it may certainly be helpful....

They want to see that you are actively severing ties to Canada. So if you give notice on the place

you live and can prove that it is also helpful. If you have a house, put it up for sale and take proof

that you have done so. If you have a job in Canada give notice and bring proof as well.

I mistakenly focused on the marriage and the finances thinking they were the most important.

Thinking if I came to the interview with my husband that would show that the marriage was legit and

that we were a real couple. My lawyer told me my more than adequate finances in the US would be adequate to

prove Domicile. She was totally wrong and I was furious with her!

Montreal is notorious for denying Visa's due to Domicile.

I only wish I had read this site before our interview.

We learned the hard way.

I really hope this helps. I certainly wish I had this information before our interview.

Best,

Sunny.

Hello there,

I have a follow up question about my husband and my situation. We are also filing DCF through Montreal. He is the Canadian citizen. Last step we did was file the form D230 (I believe that's the right form). We also returned the checklist demonstrating which documents we have ready for the interview. According to the letter, it said that we should now wait for our interview date and continue to collect those documents on the checklist. Proving domicile is quite difficult for me. We are planning on moving down together. We both have been looking for jobs however, employers seem unimpressed when we tell them that we have NO IDEA when we could be available to start. So they always say, get back to us with a start date in mind. So how do I get a job offer, to prove domicile, if I dont have an interview date or any idea of when we'll be moving down? We have collected a moving quote, we have a bank account with both of our names on it in the US, I could easily get my tax information from 2009, and I could get a letter from my sister saying we will stay with her until we find out own place. How are others finding jobs? Thanks.

Hi- Just to let you know that our envelope which was supposed to be there by a Tuesday morning didn't show up in the system until late Thursday evening. We called the post office and they said that because the Consulate in Montreal is such a high volume mail receiver it can take days for it to show up in the system as received. And that was our experience. Also the Easter holiday will REALLY slow things down. Don't give up hope yet.

If you haven't already submitted it, you will need a full "long form" of her birth certificate.

This is one that lists both of her parents names and places of birth.

It has to be an original, not a certified copy, and not a wallet card.

Hope that helps.

Sunny.

My wife finally received her interview date for Montreal,(CR1) May 13th.

So now we need to prepare for that. One question I had was about the doctor exam. There are 2 in Montreal, does anyone have any insight into which one might be best to use and why?

Second, going through the list of documents it looks like NVC received everything, (although we will take copies of everything we sent in anyway).. What about the birth certificate? My wife just has one of those wallet cards, will that suffice or does she need to get a certified copy of the original?

The interview is on a Thursday so we plan on getting there well ahead of that time to make sure we get the Dr stuff squared away, any other advice that anyone has to prepare would be appreciated!

Thanks

My present husband who is Canadian was coming to the US (before we were married) to stay for the holidays.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. He told them the truth. He was held up for 4 hours while they first

misplaced his passport and then questioned him intensely. He just about got refused to be let in as he

A) Didn't own any property in Canada B) Is a Comic Book Artist (not a "real" job to be tied to they said).

They said that he did not have enough "ties" to Canada to admit him to the US for a longer visit and

said they were only reluctantly letting him in this time because they had misplaced his passport and held him up for

quite a while. They explained that having a fiance or sweetheart in the US was more reason not to let him

in as that he was more likely to "overstay". If he had purchased a return ticket that was a much shorter length

of time I do not believe he would have had a problem. In fact they as much said the length of time was not

OK. The searched his luggage too.

So, I would strongly advise for your girlfriend to just say she is coming in to visit a friend for two weeks,

buy a return ticket for 2 weeks and then change it when she arrives.

As the other VJ person wrote I would also strongly advise her to travel with bank statements, leases, job info..

Absolutely anything that shows strong ties to the UK.

In my experience the less the border agents know the better, but also DO NOT put yourself in a position to lie to them,

just give them the least amount of info. You are her friend and she is visiting you. If she has a ticket for two

weeks than the is also the truth. They don't make you promise no to change the return date.

Good luck!

Also I would advise you to see a lawyer before you decide to marry if you do so. It can save you a lot of

stress and frustration if you do things in the right order from the get go.

Also keep all documentation of relationship. Tickets from visits, emails and phone bills. You will need them.

Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes, thats my real biggest concern, just getting in! I mean even if our motives are to play by the rules, I worry about them turning her back. Im hoping someone else here has experienced someone coming to stay for the 6 months and had success with it. I like to hope that by telling customs up front what we're trying to do and showing proof of her life at home, they'll let her through. Thank you again. Anyone else have input?

Thanks so much for your review.

What would be really helpful is if you could include a list

of the documents you were asked to show the Domicile of your wife (is she the the US citizen?)

My Canadian citizen husband and I had our interview in Montreal and were denied the Visa because

of Domicile. If you don't mind posting a list of the documents you showed to prove her Domicile.

Congratulations and many thanks,

Sunny

Hi All,

I thought I'd share my interview experience with everyone in case it may help somebody out there.

I stayed at the Hyatt around the corner from the US Consulate on Jeanne-Mance. I arrived at the consulate at 7AM for my 830AM appointment. There was no organized lineup and a few people cut in front of others who were there before them. At 730AM, the guards opened the doors and began letting people in. Two lines were formed, one for immigrant visas and the other for other issues. People were then ushered through security where we took off our coats and emptied our pockets. Once through the security check, I was told to go through a door and down the stairs to a waiting room where a guard would come to get me and take me up to the 19th floor where I was to look for window 14B.

I was the first to sit in the room to wait to be taken up but was later joined by everyone who was waiting outside so I don't quite understand the point of us being split into to two lines immigrant vs. non immigrant. The guard later arrived in the elevator and then he told us ALL to get into the elevator and to take a deep breath and squeeze together so we can do it in one trip.

When we arrived at the 19th floor, I quickly found window 14B and was third in line after fellow VJer Bluenoser77 who I met there. She was interviewing for her K1. We each got our turn at 14B where we were asked for our appointment letter and were given a purple sheet of paper outlining the procedure for the day as well as a number that would be called when it was our turn. I was C3 and Bluenoser77 was C2.

We then took a seat and waited our turn. It was great to have a fellow VJer to chat and make the time go by since it does seem like an eternity. When I was called, I went to window 10 and spoke with the visa assistant who was very nice. She pulled up my file and collected my documents (birth and marriage certs, police check, ds230, photos and financial evidence). The visa assistant reassured me that I had nothing to worry about since I was well organized and had everything I needed. She then took my fingerprints and told me to have a seat and wait to be called by the CO.

I got that call and went to room 8 where the consular officer was waiting. I hung up my coat and the consular officer was very nice. He began with taking the oath to tell the truth and then asked the typical questions of how I met my wife and whether I had any troubles crossing the border. He reviewed all the documents, asked me about where I lived, what I did for work, what my wife did, where I was moving to and where/when we got married. There were a couple of other questions but nothing out of the ordinary.

After returning some of the original docs to me he mentioned that based on what I provided, he was going to issue me the visa. Woohoo! He explained the procedure of receiving the visa by mail and gave me the information on point of entry.

All in all the interview itself lasted about 10 minutes but I didn't get out of there until after 11AM that morning. It seemed that the appointment time didn't matter at all but what did matter is the order in which you got to the line up for window 14B so just keep that in mind.

Hope that helps! Now to make the big move!!!

Thanks,

FF

For sure. I told my husband that I would just go ahead and go back home if we don't hear something by my birthday, which is early in May. I see that some people wait months for review. A few have gotten notice quicker. I was hoping that getting the envelope with my proof of domicile to the Consulate less 3 days after our interview would help. But now I don't think that it will make a difference mostly because my "overnight" envelope still hasn't been delivered!

The other thing I want to suggest to people who are mailing more proof of domicile back into the Montreal Consulate

is to use Fed Ex, as opposed to Canada Post. We used the Express mail envelope recommended by the interviewer.

But our envelope is in "mail limbo." And I have read a few other people have experienced this on VJ.

If you use Fed Ex, the envelope goes directly to the consulate building as per the address the give you on

the sheet they send you away with. If you use Canada Express Post, it goes to a large facility where they get TONS

of mail for the consulate and it takes longer to process. I called Canada Post and got this info yesterday.

At least if you use Fed Ex, you know it goes straight to the Consulate building.

But, you still need to include a prepaid, pre-addressed Canada Post express envelope in your Fed Ex envelope as that is the only

way to get your stuff back.

But my envelope sitting in "mail limbo" is pretty annoying to top it ALL off!

Hi TM-

Thanks for responding.

The CO man who interviewed us showed disapproval of my US PO Box.

He was such a strange guy. He also made inappropriate comments about my

financial situation saying ,"well yes, I see you do have quite a bit of money,

and "I wish I had this much money and was lucky enough to not have to work."

So creepy.

He actually gave us "hints" of things that he would have liked to see to prove domicile.

He made it clear that these were just suggestions, and that he could not guarantee that these would

work.

He mentioned the lease, moving truck or mover receipts, driver's license, voting record.

Luckily, I also did not import my car into Canada and kept my US registration, and insurance and payed my

property tax in Mass. for my car.

This was difficult, but I am glad I held out, as I had always intended to move back home as soon as possible.

I think those documents maybe helpful.

Very interesting to hear that my lawyer wouldn't have dealt with domicile.

Thanks makes me feel a little bit better, considering all the money I spent!

Sorry, to clarify I sent the contract signed to list our house for sale.

It is just on the market, as we were trying to wait until after the interview to actually list it.

But we want to get it on the market regardless of the interview outcome as this is prime time and

the sales tax on home sales in Ontario goes up dramatically on June 1st. But hopefully our contract with

Remax will help.

My lawyer wasn't helpful. I just took it upon myself to get together what I had that I thought would prove my sincere intention to live in the US right away.

I am actually going to tell her to read this website!

I really do not want to live here, so I am actually happy to go back to the US at any time and "domicile"

On my own!

Hi Sunny,

It sounds a bit like your lawyer was completely unaware of the domicile part of the affidavit of support really. Being an American immigration attorney, she probably doesn't deal with the domicile issue - ever (not defending her by any means - she SHOULD have read the I-864, that's her job! )

Anyway, the stuff you have sent back sounds quite substantial. You mentioned you sent your contract for your house sale in Canada, which is a good thing - as you have no doubt read, showing that you are leaving Canada is just as important as showing that you are establishing/have established ties to the U.S.

You mentioned that he wasn't too pleased with your having used a PO box for your tax returns, what did he say? Also, you mention that you sent back the documents that had been suggested - who suggested this, was it the CO or your lawyer?

I know Lenie!

I said the exact same thing to my husband. Why would anyone go through the time and expense and stress of this process

if you did not have the sincere intention of living in the US?! However, I guess there are some who exploit the system

and are approached to get Visa's in a fruadulent manner while living abroad. So they want to make sure the US citizen is

actually residing in the US before they give a non US person a Visa to move there.

My problem was not being able to prove domicile, it was that my very well paid lawyer gave us NO heads up about

this requirement. She was oblivious. I would have been able to move back to the States months ago on my own, (I am financially secure and we have no children) to establish domicile. I would have been more than happy to do so as I am very unhappy living in Canada. Being apart for 4 or 5 months would have been fine, and in fact preferable as I have been So grumpy

to my poor husband about being in Canada these past 18 months. I only wish I had read this website 6 months ago!

What a waste of stress and time!

We sent in proof of domicile as soon as we returned from Montreal, but after reading all the posts on VJ about

domicile and as I am a known PR of Canada I am pretty sure we will get turned down again.

I will need to go home and enroll in classes and hook up the utilities! (well, fine with me really!)

All the best!

Yes, Montreal is a stickler for domicile and they are especially harsh on Americans who have permanent residence in Canada. I had my Canadian PR for a year, and told them that I had tried living there for my husband's job (which is important to him), but wanted to move back near my family. He said he believed that I wanted to move back to the U.S., but still refused to issue the visa to my husband.

I have always maintained that no one would go through the difficulties of applying for U.S. immigration if they had no intention of living there. I mean, who would put themselves through the torture? Though we were denied in November, we have just submitted proof of domicile (I moved back in January). Much like others, I wish I knew the things I do now about the domicile issue. I would have moved back sooner and let my husband go to the interview by himself.

Trailmix-

I am so glad you are on this site. Your info has been more helpful to me than my lawyer.

And it is FREE!

We failed our interview last Wednesday in Montreal due to domicile. My lawyer had

prepared all the paperwork, so I never even had read the I-864 myself. (duh!)

She did nothing to prepare us for the domicile question!

She had told me I needed to secure a place for us to live in the US, which I did

but not to have evidence of this residence with us for the interview.

I even was in Boston in January and met with her to go over what I would need

to provide for the Montreal Interview.

She assumed that my substantial US bank accounts would be enough and told me just

to bring the most current copies of all my bank accounts. The CO interviewer wasn't impressed.

He told me that I could live in Kabul and have US bank accounts, so that did nothing to

prove domicile..

My tax returns from last year also had a PO Box address in the US.

That really annoyed him!

I immediately went home and sent

in the documents that were suggested back to Montreal. (apt.lease, car registration, insurance, property taxes,

driver's license, doctor's bills, contract for house sale in Canada etc)

But after reading so much on this site about domicile,

I am pretty sure that we will get rejected again, and I will need to just go actually stay

in the apartment I have already rented down in Boston. If I had only know about the difficulty of

establishing domicile I would have been happy to go home and would have been happily living there for the past 3 months or longer.

The irony is that I have been so homesick for the US, all I do is complain about living in Canada!

I went home in January to get our apartment ready, but just came back to Canada to save some money

and complications of running two whole households at once. But, really if I had only known I would

have been more than happy to just stay in Boston.

I stupidly thought that being at the interview with my husband would be helpful as it would show

that we are a solid, steady, legitimate couple. All we focused on was the marriage and the financial

part, completely oblivious to domicile.

Anyway, I am thankful for all the info you have posted and managed on this site!

Thanks again!

Hi Jones-

I have been following your story and I am so glad to hear all is finally done!

I would like to have the link to file a complaint if you don't mind.

My lawyer was furious that we got refused at our interview last Wednesday.

But, if my lawyer had done her job and prepared for what I would need to do to prove Domicile,

I wouldn't be going through any of this! She made a big mistake. Boy, do I wish I had

read VJ 8 months ago!

How utterly stupid and ridiculous that you were approved by just re submitting the exact same documents.

And how sad that the old adage about knowing people in high places is sometimes the only way to get things done.

Really sad and scary. I certainly hope you follow up and file a complaint.

All the best to you and congratulations!

So I got a call from the Senator's office this morning. They had contacted the consul general in Montreal and he checked our file and told them that it was approved and mailed out this past Saturday!

Needless to say we're kind of excited about that! I expect it to arrive at our place either tomorrow or Thursday.

We also inquired about filing a formal complaint on how this whole process went and were given a website to do so on. I would post it here but since I've had "complaint" related threads deleted in the past I will not do so. However if you would like that information just let me know and I'll give you that information.

The funniest/strangest part is that the information that we most recently sent it that we got approval on for domicile was the exact same information that was sent in at the very beginning. This is the main basis for our complaint that I will be filing shortly.

Anyhow, we can now list our place and hopefully sell and move before the end of May!!! Wooohooo!